"Poop-line. For a poop tank." Tiffany corrected. "And you would be wise to get up and out of here. You're Dad is angry. Even though he is strange, I can tell when an adult is mad." She said, highlighting her obviously superior observation skills.

Shawn looked around for any handholds or where the incline might be shallower so he could climb his way out of the pit.

Shawn kicked at the ground with his tennis shoes, scuffing the soil as he pushed upward along the embankment. The rain fell down the blades of grass into the already wet soil, the droplets pausing on the surface before being sucked into the dark particles.

"I said get out of there!" Dad's voice boomed down at Shawn and his friends.

Shawn kept climbing, mud and dirt smeared on his hands and feet. "Sorry Dad...I didn't mean to fall in."

Dad looked dishevled. His face had grown out that five o' clock shadow to nearly a full beard. Here and there, gray specs of white could be seen among the hairs. His brows were furrowed as rain dripped down his face and onto the earth.

"Bobby, go to your room." He said curtly.

"Tiffany. I'm sorry, but I have to talk to my son. It's best if you go home."

With that, Dad turned around and marched towards the house, clearly expecting Shawn to follow him.

"yes sir."

Tiffany didn't say anything. She looked more than happy to leave once Shawn's Dad made his presence known. She had that look on her face that kids get when they encounter a scary adult, or worse a parental figure of one of their friends. An authority figure that fits in to the 'mean' category.

Shawn trails after his father, equally worried about what his father would say and eager to get out of the rain and inside.

Shawn's Dad didn't say much to Shawn, generally speaking. Once they got inside the house and both had taken off their shoes, an odd silence descended. It was certainly unmarked territory. Now that Shawn and his Dad were alone, Shawn realized this was really the first time they had been one-on-one in the same room for at least a year. Dad was always at work. Except for recently, he never spent much time during the last two weeks doing anything other than digging, staying up late in the office, and praying so far as Shawn could tell.

"You know I don't want you playing in that hole, don't you?" Dad said to Shawn who was sitting at the table, clothes muddy.

"Why can't you just...." Dad started. "Do things right?" he finished, clearly frustrated. "What is it with kids? Huh? It's like you guys find something and to everyone else it's common knowledge not to act like a moron and play or touch whatever it is. But you kids always have to do exactly that."

Shawn didn't actually get into trouble that often; he was too afraid of his parents' disapproval to ever really risk it. So right now, he was in largely uncharted territory. He decided to play it safe, looking sad, regretful, and above all else willing to learn from his mistakes. "I'm really sorry, Dad. I won't do it again..." His lower lip almost imperceptibly quivered.

"You're like....an idiot or something." Dad said, still frustrated. The words came out of his mouth the way a driver would throw unwanted garbage out a window while driving by--careless and without much thought.

"Don't play in there again." Dad warned, still getting the emotions out from himself and onto Shawn, or perhaps not having pressed Shawn enough. Clearly, he hadn't listened to Shawn's promise of not doing it again, or perhaps it didn't dissuade him from warning Shawn yet again.

"There's a problem with the septic system I've been digging up all week and the last thing I need is your and your friends to go in there and start messing it up. Jesus Christ, that would be expensive. I'm really glad you're friends are going on vacation or out of town this weekend. I can't stand those new neighbors across the street."

Shawn suddenly looked really interested and impressed in what Dad had to say. If acting sorry wasn't working, maybe flattery would. "Oh cool, you're fixing the septic system?  I hope I didn't ruin anything - I bet it's really complicated and stuff. I didn't know you knew plumbing stuff!"

OOC: Shawn Rolls Manipulation + Empathy vs. Dad's dice pool of 5


Dad looked up, as if thinking of how Shawn might progress, where he was going with that argument.

OOC: 22:36, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,1,1,8,1. Manipulation + Empathy.

22:37, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 1 success using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,7.  Striking Looks (Optional).

04:51, Today: Shawn's Dad - Robert Cramer rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((10(+1),9,6,2,3)).


As the words left Shawn's mouth, he could tell, for just an instant that they weren't sufficient to sway the attitude of his father. It was the way Dad tilted his head in confusion at what Shawn was saying. Dad's eyes squinted in confusion. Clearly his anger was still tugging at him. Shawn knew he would have to rally and quickly say something else, or be dismissed like he had seen adults do to kids so many times.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Manipulation + Empathy + Striking Looks vs. Dad's dice pool of 5

OOC: 07:47, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,3,10(+4),10(+6),4,7,2. Manipulation + Empathy + Striking Looks.

19:47, Today: Shawn's Dad - Robert Cramer rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((4,3,5,4,9)).


"It took a long time." Dad said, and Shawn could sense that his old man's demeanor was softening just a bit. "And that's why I don't want you playing around in there." He snapped, staring at Shawn with a look of incredulity.

The rain pattered on the windowsill. It was the sound of a summer storm. The kind that would come and go very quickly. There was even a chance that sun would come out before the day was over.

Dad sighed.

"The thing is Shawn, all of the work I'm doing costs money." He said. "And between your Mother's obsession with buying useless crap and the fact that I was let go from my job at the firm, that's simply money we don't have at this time."

"That's why I'd appreciate it..." he said through gritted teeth, the anger bubbling up for just a second before he managed to control it and push it back down again "If you and your friends didn't mess around in there."

"I'm really sorry - I don't want to make more work for you. I want to make things easier. I promise I won't go near the hole again." Shawn looked into his dad's eyes with the earnest sincerity that he'd become very good at faking over the years.

Dad met Shawn's gaze and added a slight nod to signify that that had now been put behind them.

"Shawn..." he said in almost a resigned way, "Things are going to start changing around here for a little while. Or maybe for a long while."

"I don't have a job right now. And that means that there won't be any pizza nights."

Dad was never present because he was always working, so Shawn never really saw him at pizza night, which occurred maybe once every two weeks or so with Mom, Bobby and Ralph for the last year. Had it been that long since all of this began with the Circus?

"No more trips to Chucky Cheese."

Shawn hadn't been to Chucky Cheese since he was 7 years old.

"We won't be able to by any of those Care Bear toys any more."

Shawn hadn't played with Care Bears since he was 4 years old.

"Not until I find another job."

"It's okay, I understand. We gotta save money, right? My old toys are just as good." Shawn nodded in what he hoped was a mature way.

"That's the spirit." Dad said, and he patted Shawn on his back. It was a sign that things were, for the time being, good between Dad and him.

Or at least not hostile.

Dad got up and headed over to the living room. The TV was on and it was playing a commercial about Tootsie Rolls. A young girl was singing "Whatever it is I think I see, becomes a Tootsie Roll to me.."

Dad sat down on his customary sofa

"Get me a Coca-cola, would you son?" Dad asked in a friendly way, but a way that he expected Shawn to do it.

Shawn just felt relieved that Dad didn't seem that mad anymore. He very nearly ran to the fridge to fetch a Coke.

Dad spoke in brief spurts to Shawn, his mind distracted while he watched the play on the TV screen. The LA dodgers were up 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The screen was bright, casting a white-ish blue light against the door.

"Mmmmm..." Dad said as he took the Coke from Shawn, eyes still fixed on the screen feet outstretched on the recliner.

"mmmm...mmm...hmmmm..." He wasn't even paying attention to Shawn anymore.

Shawn waited about a minute or so to see if his dad wanted him for anything or had anything else to say. Assuming nothing was forthcoming, eventually he quietly left the living room and headed to his room. At the very least he'd need a change of clothes and a quick rinse in the shower.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: Bobby Wants to Know All About It